


You can pick your job, and, eventually, you can pick your people, but not from the start

by Bestboiuwu



Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Evolution
Genre: I can't remember what tags I used for that last time fuck, Non-Binary Anon, anyway did you know that uhhhhh gibson live in my head rent free?, still can't believe he's played by jensen fucking ackles, they/them anon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27667667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bestboiuwu/pseuds/Bestboiuwu
Summary: Here are his takeaways;-Don't talk too loudly-Don't stand up for the ISOs-Don't try and fight backDo any of these things, and you will A) get the crap beat out of you, and B) lose your job
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	You can pick your job, and, eventually, you can pick your people, but not from the start

**Author's Note:**

> NO this has not been proofread thank you for asking!!

Here's the thing about Gibson;

He was really, really good at his job.

A few cycles after he emerged from the sea of simulation, they found him a place in engineering, and he was really, really good at engineering. His specialty was in energy transfers; the systems he built revolutionized the grid.

Even more impressive was the fact that he wasn't programmed to do that job. That's the fun thing about ISOs; they're not programmed for anything. They're just born, no defined purpose or skills. They have to learn. Everything he's ever done, he's done on his own merits.

And, well, that's the sort of thing that can make people jealous, he supposes.

"You're not allowed to talk to me like that." He says, one day, after the normal slew of abuse that the basics at his job like to throw at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, you're not allowed to talk to me like that."

"And what are you going to do about it, sea-scum?"

"Well I'm not gonna sit here and fuckin' listen to it, that's for sure! Seriously, I'm the best damn engineer in this place, and you don't get to talk the fuck down to me and my people, asshole"

Someone throws a punch.

Let the record state; It was not Gibson.

Not the first one, at least.

But it's not like he's not gonna fight back.

* * *

Here are his takeaways;

-Don't talk too loudly

-Don't stand up for the ISOs

-Don't try and fight back

Do any of these things, and you will A) get the crap beat out of you, and B) lose your job.

This is, quite frankly, a bullshit list of takeaways, and he is aware of the fact that they are bullshit. But, they are, unfortunately, the way that things are around here.

* * *

"An ISO only colony?"

"Exactly. No basics at all."

He looks down at his drink and shakes his head. "You're crazy, man."

He's at a club with a friend, and they're drinking their drinks, and there's music playing all around them. 

"I'm not crazy. They're actually doing it."

"Oh yeah? And who's 'they'?"

"The Bostrumites. That's what they call themselves."

"Buncha maniacs, is what they are."

"Come on, dude, you have to admit it sounds nice. No violence. No bullshit. Just people like us."

"... I'll think about it."

* * *

Bostrum was young, when he got there. Very young. So young, in fact, that he quickly came to the realization that nobody had any idea what they were doing. They didn't even have any plans to distribute energy to the populous.

"You guys do realize we could build an energy core here, yeah?"

The others in the room all turn to look at him. One of them blinks. "What?"

"Yeah. And then we could have panels, all along here. There'd be plenty of energy for everyone."

A few of them look at each other. They look back at Gibson.

"You could build this?"

"I was an engineer. Energy transfers are my area of expertise."

"Okay. Okay, yeah, we could use your help."

So, with Gibson's help, Bostrum begins to take shape.

* * *

His 'takeaways', The ones that were bullshit, but were the way things were? Yeah, they're not the way things are anymore.

He's in charge. Here he gets to be loud, and that's a good thing. It's such a good thing that it gets him to be in charge. He's running his city, now, and it's full of people like him. He gets to stand up for the other ISOs. He learns to fight back. And really, he knows he doesn't really seem like the governing type, but it's not about rules or laws or politics, it's about the people, it's about helping the people, helping the ISOs, and he's thriving.

He is so much better at it than his last job.

* * *

"We don't have any problems with basics, you know. Just the ones that have a problem with us. It's just…Sometimes that's the majority, you know?"

He's on the recognizer, now, with the new system moniter. They've just broken out of the games, and they're on the way home. 

"I suppose that's why you're here, huh? To try and resolve some of the tention between the ISOs and the Basics?"

Anon tilts their head inquisitively.

"You don't talk much, do you? Well, you certainly have your work cut out for you, now that. Well. Clu's pulled whatever the hell he's pulling. Can't say I'm surprised, though. He never liked us." He sighs. "Well, we're almost there. We can get Flynn and try to get control of this mess." He glanced back over to Anon. "I think you might like it there. Bostrum, I mean. It's gorgeous, really is. 'Course it might be a bit… chaotic for your tastes, oh high-and-mighty moniter" 

Anon gives a look, that somehow manages to read as grumpy even from underneath their mask, and Gibson laughs. "I'm just teasing! Just teasing. I'm sure you'll love the place."

* * *

This. This is a mess.

He dropped off Anon, and then he headed to his quarters, and now. Well, now. He's watching everything he loves fall apart.

Sections of the walls, the floor, of his home- yellow, cracked, infected. Pieces of the colony are falling apart, and it's spreading, quickly, and this is before he sees the people.

The people. The same people he's been fighting for, he's been leading- now they're yellow, and they're monstrous, and they're attacking him.

What were the words that he'd use later, when he was describing it to Anon? He'd had to "put them down."

* * *

Well, this is fitting, really. After watching his home crumble. "Going down with the ship", so to speak.

That's the most coherent thought he can seem to formulate, because the rest of the time he's just focused on the fact that fuck, this really hurts. 

He tries to stay in control for as long as he can, honestly. And from what he can tell, he's doing a pretty damn good job. No one else he had seen had been able to fight back at all, much less gain control for a few seconds the way he's been able to.

Still not good enough, though.

"Hit me!" He says, when he's able, when he's in control. He loses count of how many times he says it. He tries to hold still, when he can, to make himself an easier target. He gets it, see. He knows what has to be done.

He has to be "put down", so to speak.

And, luckily for him, Anon seems just the program to do it. Turns out, palling around with a security moniter has its perks.

Could you call this a perk? Yeah, yeah, you could. Given these specific circumstances, yeah, you could call the ability to murder you a perk.

Well, at least he went out being loud.

And at least he went out fighting.

**Author's Note:**

> Thing's Gibson's flavourtext tells us;  
> -was an excellent engineer  
> -was "driven out" of his job after a "violent confrontation with basic collaueges stemming from coworker's xenophobia and jealousy"  
> -that that last part was "unsubstantiated at last check"  
> -that he is a prominent member of Bostrum's governing body


End file.
